Saturday, April 28, 2012

Whitechapel Comes to Zydeco

By Doug Ward

The name Whitechapel, for over 100 years, has conjured up images of foggy cobblestone streets and dead hookers to most folks. The London district was after all home to Jack the Ripper, history's most notorious serial killer. To those who have discovered Whitechapel, the Knoxville based death core band, it might bring mental images of Phil Bozeman, Ben Savage, Alex Wade, Zach Householder , Gabe Crisp and Ben Harclerode.Whitechapel has played the Warped tour and the Mayhem tour, sharing the stage with Job for a Cowboy, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, and The Black Dahlia Murders. They have played alongside Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Darkest Hour, Trivium ...the list goes on. These guys are a Juggernaut of ass kicking. Their 2007 debut The Sonic Defilement, released on the UK label, Siege Of Amida, paved the way for a record company bidding war between no less then eight labels desperately wanting to add Whitechapel to their lineup. The winner in that contest was no less then the mighty Metal Blade records.

Soon after signing with Metal Blade came the release of an impressive second album, This Is Exile. A powerful, compelling tale of world domination. The first week's sales alone topped 6000 and propelled the band forward to worldwide touring and over 55,000 copies sold (and still counting.)

Whitechapel's next release A New Era Of Corruption brought a new producer on board, Jason Suecof (The Black Dahlia Murder, Job For A Cowboy) and guest spots from Deftones' Chino Moreno and Vincent of The Acacia Strain. The songwriting abilities of the band having grown phenomenally at this point.

A New Era of Corruption proved to be an even more dynamic, powerful recording. Flash forward to November 8, 2011 and the ep Recorrupted, which is powerful, evil, creative, and completely insane . Lyrically songs like section 8 seem to be composed from the mind of a manic depressive sociopath (I mean that in a good way... Ever see that video of the guy who built a tank from a D5 bulldozer and destroyed half of his hometown? I can see him listening to Recorupted as his soundtrack.)

Whitechapel is currently on tour in the US and Canada with a stopat the Hellfest in Clisson, France on 15/06/2012 .Check them out at in Birmingham at Zydeco 05/05/2012